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22INTERNATIONAL LIFE
Strategy of Uzbekistan №03 (2020) / ISSN 2181-2535 Journal home page: https://journal.strategy.uz
According to the absolute majority of
Abudlaziz Kamilov, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republc of Uzbekistan
The Republic of Uzbekistan has met the 29th anniversary of State Independence with dynamic internal reforms and renewed foreign policy. Openness, innovations and transformations observed in the internal life of the country, including economic liberalization, market development, improvement of the
UZBEKISTAN'S NATIONAL INTERESTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA
business environment, digitalization and introduction of new technologies, attention to education and enlightenment, civic engagement and protection of human rights - all these certainly affects foreign policy our country.
According to the absolute majority of international experts and foreign politicians, today Uzbekistan pursues consistent, clear and constructive policy, unprecedented in its openness and dynamism.
Economic openness and attractiveness of the country for investments and business; focus on addressing all problematic issues on the basis of consensus, mutual respect and understanding; balanced and mutually beneficial relations with
world powers and other states; desire for interaction based on political trust and respect for international law - this is how our foreign partners characterize the foreign policy course of the country, conducted by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Over the past three years, at the initiative of the head of Uzbekistan, all countries of the region have exchanged visits at the highest level. Political communication between the leaders of the region has acquired regular, permanent and trustful character. In the course of such contacts, important joint decisions are made on regional and international issues of mutual interest to the Central Asian countries: in the sphere of security, economy, investments, tourism, culture, healthcare and ecology.
As a result, for historically short period of time there were tremendous changes for the better in the relations of Uzbekistan with all countries of the region. Many rather acute problems, which existed in the relations of our country with its neighbors until 2016, have been removed due to the strengthening of open and confidential political dialogue of the leaders of the region. Personal trust between the Presidents has been strengthened.
Our trade, economic, industrial and production ties with neighboring countries are developing dynamically. At the end of 2019, we increased our trade turnover with them to 5.2 billion dollars.
In the first half of 2020, despite the pandemic, the
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total volume of trade of Uzbekistan with al| Central Asian states made up 2,17 billion dollars.
Uzbekistan is going through a decisive, historical stage of development. An unprecedented large-scale program of deep social-economic and social-political reforms is being implemented in the country, which will promote Uzbekistain'6 entering the list of 50 economically developed states of the world by 2035.
This goal can only be achieved with successful and consistent integration into the global economic and financial system.
Accordingly, the development of mutually beneficial, fruitful and multifaceted cooperation with the leading powers of the world - Russia, USA and China, other developed states of Asian-Pacific region, in particular, with the Republic of Korea and Japan, with the countries of Europe and European Unionrns well as with the states of Arab-Muslim and Turkic world has acquired a special significance for Uzbekistan.
Of course, the leadership pf Uzbekistan attaches great importance to the effective
implementation of certain priority directions of foreign policy.
First, there was implemented one of the most important international initiatives of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, first voiced at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly - the convening of consultative meetings of heads of state of Central Asia. This initiative has received wide international recognition and was supported by all leaders of the region.
The first such meeting was held in Astana in 2018. The second consultative summit of the Central Asian heads of state was held in Tashkent on November 29, 2019.
As a result, a historic Joint Statement of the participants of the consultative meeting was adopted, in which it was emphasized that «the trend towards regional rapprochement in Central Asia is a historically determined reality. The intensification of regional cooperation in the spheres of politics, security, preservation of stability and achievement of sustainable development in the region meets the indigenous interests of the peoples of Central Asian countries,
contributes to further strengthening of brotherly relations between them, serves the full realization of the enormous economic and civilizational potential of Central Asia».
At present, the countries of the region are jointly preparing a five-sided interstate document on friendship, good neighborliness and cooperation for the development of Central Asia in the XXI century.
Second, Uzbekistan is actively involved in supporting and promoting the peace process in Afghanistan, facilitating the dialogue between the parties, as well as implementing important economic and infrastructural projects that help revive the Afghan economy and integrate that country into regional and international trade and economic ties.
Uzbekistan's policy toward Afghanistan is based on the understanding that prospects for sustainable development in Central asia are closely linked to achieving peace in neighboring Afghanistan.
It should be noted that the peace process in Afghanistan has been at an impasse for a long time.
And, more importantly, the war in Afghanistan, against the background of other crisis situations in the Middle East and North Africa, almost completely fell out of the sight of the world community.
At the initiative of Uzbekistan, it was possible to bring this acute global problem back on the agenda of the international community.
On March 26-27, 2018, Tashkent hosted a high-level international conference on Afghanistan, attended by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy F. Mogerini and representatives of the UN Security Council member states. This was the first time such a large-scale forum was held to address the Afghan problem at such a high level.
The Tashkent Conference and Uzbekistan's policy toward Afghanistan in general led to the intensification of international efforts to resolve the Afghan conflict and to the country's involvement in regional trade, economic and infrastructure projects that should help promote the peace process.
Thirdly, relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan with many states and groups of states representing different continents have reached a qualitatively new level.
First of all, strategic partnership and cooperation relations with Russia have significantly strengthened in recent years. By joint efforts, in the spirit of openness and trust, it was possible to significantly expand the scope of bilateral cooperation in trade and economic, investment, energy, transport, agro-industrial, scientific and technical and cultural-humanitarian spheres.
A number of major projects and programs in priority areas of economic development are being successfully implemented. Russian specialists in nuclear power began to carry out preparatory work for construction of the first Central Asian nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan.
Relations of Uzbekistan with other leading countries of the world are also dynamically and mutually beneficially developing. The official visit of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to Washington in May 2018 has brought the bilateral relations with the United States to a
new level. The heads of two countries adopted a joint statement «On the beginning of new era of strategic partnership» and directed their efforts to the development of mutually beneficial areas of cooperation.
In recent years, trade turnover between the countries has doubled, the flow of American tourists to| Uzbekistan has increased by 50 percent.
An influential «Kokus in Uzbekistan» - an informal group of friends of the republic, has been created in the US Congress.
A branch of the Webster University was opened in Tashkent, which will represent a wide range of academic programs, including marketing and entrepreneurship, computer sciences, media industry, health care management.
At the same time, relations of Uzbekistan with European countries and the European Union have been significantly strengthened in almost all spheres.
Fruitful official visits of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to France (2018), Germany (2019) and Turkey (2017 and 2020) have taken place. As a result of these visits, breakthrough agreements were reached in political,
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trade and economic, investment, cultural and humanitarian and other spheres. The return visits of Presidents F.-W. Steinmeier of Germany (2019) and R.T. Erdogan of Turkey (2018) were successful.
On the multilateral track of relations with Europe, important results were admittedly achieved. In May 2019 the chairman of European Council D. Tusk visited Uzbekistan for the first time. Two visits of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy F. Mogerini took place in 2017 and 2018. The European side
expressed great interest in expanding bilateral cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, innovation and investment, transport, science, education and healthcare, which fully corresponds to our vision of key areas of Uzbek-European interaction.
Following the results of 2019 the volume of trade turnover of Uzbekistan with EU countries in comparison with previous year has grown on 60 percent, having made 4 billion dollars. Export of Uzbek production to Europe increased one and a half
times, making up 580 million dollars. Obviously, the parties have significant unrealized potential in this sphere.
That is why serious attention is paid in Tashkent and Brussels to the prospects of promoting trade and economic interaction within the framework of the new comprehensive Agreement on Extended Partnership and Cooperation (EPCA), which the parties have been working on since 2019.
The most important thing in these relationships is that by supporting an open and
constructive foreign policy of Tashkent in Central Asia, Brussels radically revised as a whole its policy towards the region. This is reflected in the updated EU Strategy for Central Asia 2019. It placed greater emphasis on developing inter-regional connectivity and EU support for political stability and sustainable development in Central Asian countries.
For the last three years Uzbekistan has intensified its participation in integration processes in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Building on our historical, fraternal ties with the states of the Commonwealth, Tashkent is firmly committed to further strengthening of multilateral and bilateral interaction within the CIS.
At present, out of 84 CIS bodies Uzbekistan participates in the activities of more than 40, whose target goals are in line with national interests. In the past three years alone, Uzbekistan has joined the work of the CIS Economic Council, InterParliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth and 18 CIS sectoral bodies.
The fact that in 2020, Uzbekistan for the first time since the formation
of the CIS accepted and successfully carried out its presidency in the Commonwealth speaks volumes.
Uzbekistan also takes the most active part in the activity of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which is characterized by initiative and pragmatism. Thanks to the new active course of Tashkent, since 2017 the Organization has implemented more than 10 initiatives of Uzbekistan, aimed at strengthening cooperation in SCO in the field of security, economy, transport, science, tourism and cultural and humanitarian relations.
Uzbekistan has initiated the establishment of new platforms in the SCO: the Center of SCO People's Diplomacy in Uzbekistan, a mechanism for meeting the heads of railway administrations, the International University of Tourism «Silk Road» in Samarkand.
Another foreign policy direction - Asian-Pacific region - is important for Uzbekistan in terms of investment and economic cooperation and development of new markets. It is no secret that this very region is the
fastest growing center of the world economy, where both major exporter« and importers of high technologies are located.
Today our cooperation with China in political, trade and economic, financial, cultural, agrarian, construction, scientific and educational spheres is developing intensively and on a mutually beneficial basis. As a result of regular high-level meetings, including negotiations between the heads of state in 2017-2020, the Uzbek-Chinese strategic partnership has reached a qualitatively new level. In 2019, the total volume of Chinese capital attracted to the economy of Uzbekistan made up more than 9.8 billion US dollars, and about 100 million dollars were attracted in the form of grants.
Our cooperation with the Republic of Korea also deserves^ttention. Following the state visits^ of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Seoul in 2017 and President Mun Jae-in to Uzbekistan in 2019, agreements worth more than 20 billion dollars were signed, which strengthened mutually beneficial ties in various areas. In 2019, bilateral relations reached the level of special strategic
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partnership, which is a confirmation of commitment of the parties to relations of friendship and mutual trust.
This is evidenced by the fact that Korean language is taught in 13 universities and 48 schools and lyceums in Uzbekistan, there are also branches of famous South Korean universities - Inha, Pujon, Yju and Korea International University, and two more are expected to open.
Japan is another our traditional, reliable partner in Asia. The first official visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Japan in December 2019 gave an additional impetus to the development of relations with this country in political, trade and economic, financial, investment, technological, scientific and cultural and humanitarian spheres.
Of course, the state and working visits of the President of the Republi£ of Uzbekistan to India organized in 2018-2020, during which 20 agreements were signed, have become breakthrough. About 20 more documents are being prepared for signing. Given the growing economic and technological potential o India, there are very encouraging prospects for
deepening cooperation with India in the areas of health care, pharmaceuticals, education, tourism, construction sector, as well as in the development of transport and logistics capabilities of the region.
Entering the markets of Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries is important for India, while Uzbekistan in its turn is interested in expanding its own export opportunities and getting access to new foreign markets. Without it, no region or country can develop normally in the modern world.
Traditionally, close relations with India are maintained on the international arena in the UN and other multilateral formats, including through the Central Asia-India Dialogue. As you know, the first ministerial meeting in this format was held in January 2019 in Samarkand.
It should be noted that with the beginning of active promotion of Uzbekistan's open foreign policy, our country has fruitfully participated in the development of various formats of regional dialogue with the leading «players» in Central Asia, namely, «CA+RF», «CA+China», «C5+1»
(USA), «CA+Japan», «CA+Republic of Korea», «CA+European Union». The emergence of such formats indicates the growing importance and role of Central Asia in the architecture of international relations, in global processes of political and economic interconnection, and in the formation of a system of regional and international security.
Relations between Uzbekistan and Pakistan have made significant progress. In 20172019, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held four meetings with the President and Prime Minister of IRP in the framework of multilateral forums, where important agreements were reached in the spheres of economy, investments, politics and security.
Uzbekistan managed to build trust and friendly relations with states of Arab-Muslim world, for which our country is of great interest as a promising investment market. One of the important achievements in economic interaction is signing of quadripartite agreement on construction of transport corridor between countries of Persian Gulf and Central Asia in Ashgabat,
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Oman on April 25, 2011.
Uzbekistan and the Middle East are united by geographical proximity, common historical, cultural and spiritual values. In recent years, cooperation with Arab countries has expanded in all directions. The head of state visited Saudi Arabia in May 2017, United Arab Emirates in March 2019 and President of Egypt A. al-Sisi visited Uzbekistan in September 2018.
Within the framework of high-level talks, the sides discussed issues of
expanding cooperation in all spheres, strengthening trade and economic, investment, energy, banking and financial, agricultural, cultural and humanitarian, tourism and other spheres.
During the President's visit to the UAE, 10 important documents and 11 investment agreements worth $10 billion were signed. During the visit of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Uzbekistan 4 intergovernmental, 7 interdepartmental and 11 investment agreements for the amount of about 500
million dollars were signed.
Intermediate political consultations are regularly held, including those with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Israel, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt in 2017-2020.
In general, investment cooperation of Uzbekistan with the countries of South Asia, Near and Middle East now covers more than 60 projects at the amount of about 1,9 billion dollars.
In this context, cooperation with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is also worth mentioning briefly. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took part in
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«
the 43rd meeting of the pICICouncil of Foreign Ministers, which was held in Tashkent on October 18-19, 2016, and outlined the priorities of cooperation with the Organization during the presidency of Uzbekistan. Also at the first OIC Summit on Science and Technology, which was held on September 10, 2017 in Astana (Nur-^ultan), member states welcomed the practical initiatives of the President to further develop science, spirituality and enlightenment.
Attracting investment and technology, expanding domestic exports, promoting the brand of national companies in foreign markets, strengthening the competitiveness of the country's economy, development of tourism -all these important tasks are aimed at economic diplomacy, which has become an integral part of our work.
Attracting investments and technologies, expanding domestic exports, promoting national companies in foreign markets, increasing the competitiveness of the country's economy, developing tourism -economic diplomacy, which
has become an integral part of our work, is aimed at all these important tasks.
In recent years, in accordance with the guidelines and instructions of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strengthened cooperation with the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade in the implementation of a common foreign policy and foreign economic activity. Institutions for coordination of joint actions of the two agencies have been established and are functioning effectively. New approaches are being introduced into the work and system of the Ministry and, accordingly, the diplomatic missions of Uzbekistan in order to promote diversification of exports of goods and services, attract investments, advanced technologies and tourist flow to the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has created a Department of Economic Diplomacy, which is directly involved in promoting the country's foreign economic interests, attracting foreign investment and financial and technical assistance, developing international cooperation in the field of tourism.
An important area of economic diplomacy was the intensification of contacts with the world business community, cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and others, as well as with major foreign corporations and companies.
Only in the first half of 2020 official delegations of the government and companies of Uzbekistan visited 48 countries, held more than 250 meetings and business forums with the heads and representatives of relevant trade and economic departments, organized presentations of the economic potential of Uzbekistan.
Over the past six months, investments and loans worth $3.154 billion have been attracted and mastered in agriculture, industry, construction, medicine, pharmaceuticals, education, culture and other branches of the republic.
Over $11.6 million in humanitarian aid, financial and technical assistance and grants were raised
from foreign countries to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic.
Uzbekistan's entry into the Turkic Council on October 15, 2019 was a significant event both in the context of the historical role of our country in the development of Turkic civilization, and in terms of activating the multilateral diplomacy of Tashkent.
In a short period of time Uzbekistan has managed to implement a number of important initiatives within the framework of participation in the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States (CCTS). The city of Khiva was declared the «Cultural Capital of the
TurkicWorld», there have been established CCTG Coordination Group on the fight against COVID-19 pandemic and the Working Group on Transport Cooperation. A draft Memorandum between CCTS and WHO is being developed.
Participation of Uzbekistan in Turkic Council will promote increase and expansion of trade-economic and investment relations not only with Central Asian countries, but also with Caucasus and Europe. This opens up new prospects for connecting transport and logistics hubs between these regions, which, in addition to the development of interregional trade, will give an
opportunity to our countries to enter new markets and diversify transport corridors.
We also intend to significantly increase trade and economic cooperation with a number of member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Persian Gulf, in particular Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Oman.
The idea of the President of Uzbekistan that without the involvement of young people in the processes of reform and modernization it would be impossible to develop the states and, moreover, to solve most of the problems faced by humanity has been widely recognized in the world community. Among them - ensuring peace
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and security, countering extremism and terrorism, reducing the negative impact of climate change, fighting pandemics and other natural disasters.
Uzbekistan owns a number of international initiatives directly related to the issues of upbringing, education of young people, starting from the aforementioned proposals put forward in the framework of OIC and UN, and including initiatives that are nowadays on everyone's ears. I mean recently held Samarkand Forum on Human Rights «Youth 2020: Global Solidarity, Sustainable Development and Human Rights», which was attended by prominent foreign scientists, public figures, representatives of the UN, UNESCO, International Labour Organization, International Organization for Migration, Inter-Parliamentary Union, Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe, SCO, CIS, OIC and our other partners.
Participants of this representative forum unanimously approved the initiative of the head of Uzbekistan on the development and adoption of International Convention on the Rights of Youth, put forward by him earlier at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in 2017. This proposal is generally aimed at supporting the young generation of humanity and creating conditions for its free and legal self-realization in all spheres.
As emphasized by the leaders of the UN, Venice Commission, OSCE, foreign ombudsmen and other prominent participants of the forum, the results of the Samarkand forum will contribute to involvement of young people in the development and promotion of «legal instruments for the future», and this is «the best way to ensure the sustainability of the UN youth strategy
until 2030, which aimed to active involvement of young people in the implementation of sustainable development projects».
The adoption of the Convention on Youth Rights will contribute to recognition and consideration of the legitimate interests of youth in the modern world and to comprehensive personal and professional development of young people around the world.
Summing up, we will continue to work on improving the diplomacy of Uzbekistan so that it meets modern requirements, responsibly and effectively defends the national and state interests of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the international arena.
